Recount Begins In Democratic Baltimore County Executive Race

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Thursday, July 12, 2018
Kate Amara, WBAL-TV 11

HUNT VALLEY, Md. —

The process continues to officially declare a winner in the Democratic primary for Baltimore County executive.

Johnny Olszewski Jr. is campaigning like the Democratic nominee for Baltimore County executive. He found out Friday night that he pulled off a squeaker of a win in a primary contest for county executive, besting state Sen. Jim Brochin by just nine votes.

The Baltimore County Board of Elections certified the election results Tuesday morning.

Brochin told 11 News on Monday that he planned to file a petition for a recount. On Tuesday, he told WBAL NewsRadio 1090 AM that he has formally made the request for a manual recount.

"It's not just my views that are at stake. It's tens of thousands of people who've felt the same way. So we want to be certain, and with nine votes, there is human error," Brochin said. "Human error happens, and we need to make sure that every vote is recounted and double-checked, and then we'll move on one way or the other."

The recount will begin at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and will take five to six days.

Maryland doesn't have automatic recounts. Instead, recounts must be requested by a candidate. Based on the timeline and events Monday, officials said a recount could begin later this week and it could stretch into next week.

Because the margin between the top two candidates is less than 0.1 percent, the candidate who files the request will not have to pay for the recount.

Olszewski said he's OK with a recount.

"We've heard that one will be requested, and throughout this campaign, we've consistently said we want every vote to be counted and every voice heard. So nothing has changed from our perspective," Olszewski said. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

And for both campaigns, nothing changed after learning Monday that a routine election audit found 93 "over votes," which are ballots with more than one pick negated by scanners and scrutinized by auditors. Ultimately, Olszewski gained five votes, but those five votes are not added to the current tally.

"It's a double-check on our results. It doesn't change the results, but it's a good way to measure them and make sure we have an accurate read on the votes," said Andrew Bailey, an attorney with the Baltimore County Board of Elections.

The razor-thin margin is astonishing when considering the 87,222 Democratic primary ballots cast countywide. According to election officials, of those ballots, 84,569 marked a choice for county executive, boiling down to just nine ballots between the top two spots.

The winner will face Republican nominee Al Redmer in November.

Audit is just a tool toward certification. Sounds like @JimBrochin and @JohnnyOJr camps may request recount. election must be certified b4 that can happen.